USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks

Lumberjacks Set to Host Cedar Rapids for a Pair of Games this Weekend

October 4, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


With a lot of second-year players assuming bigger roles, and a lot of rookies adjusting to the USHL, the Muskegon Lumberjacks are very much a work in progress in the early weeks of the season.

They showed that a bit in Friday's home opener against the always-powerful Chicago Steel. The Lumberjacks had their scoring chances, and played better as they game went on, but ended up losing 5-1, which brought their record to 1-2 on the season.

Coach Mike Hamilton was not upset with the effort, noting that the Jacks had a lot of quality scoring chances that they didn't finish, and the game could have taken a different twist if they had.

"We made a lot of little mistakes, and that's what Chicago does - they wait for you to make a mistake and they capitalize," Hamilton said after the game on Friday. "They took full advantage of their opportunities.

"There are lots of details we have to clean up in practice, but overall I was not upset with the compete level. There are lots of lessons to learn from this game."

This weekend the Jacks will host the Cedar Rapids Roughriders for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday nights, and the competition should be a little more even.

The Roughriders, like the Lumberjacks, have a lot of new faces in the lineup and are off to a 1-3 start. That means it will be a battle of two teams that are eager to get their seasons on track, and that should produce some intense competition.

The Roughriders have a few different players to keep an eye on offensively, including forward Zaccharya Wisdom, who has three goals in three games. Forwards Isaac Johnson and Ryan O'Connell have both been very efficient, scoring two goals so far this season on just a handful of shots.

The Jacks will be playing Cedar Rapids for the first time since last season's Clark Cup playoffs, when Muskegon swept the Roughriders two games to none in the first round.

"We watched videos of their games last weekend - they won one and lost one - but we could tell it's a typical Cedar Rapids team that's going to work extremely hard," Hamilton said. "You always know what you're getting when they come to town. They are still trying to find themselves a little bit, but you know there are going to get pucks deep and hit anything that moves."

Richard off to a hot start

One thing that's going as planned for the Lumberjacks is forward Jake Richard's performance.

The talented forward, who got hot in the second half of last season and tallied 18 goals and 30 assists, scored the Jacks' only goal on Friday and now has three on the season.

Richard, who also has one assist, is currently among the top 10 point producers in the USHL.

"We anticipate and expect him to carry the load for us offensively and he's off to a nice start," Hamilton said. "He's been doing a lot of video work, trying to get back to where he left off last season.

"Getting drafted by an NHL team (the Buffalo Sabres) and going to their development camp did nothing but boost his confidence. He's also doing a much better job as a leader now, helping to bring younger guys along."

Jacks will choose a captain this week

Some fans may have gotten the wrong idea on Friday if they noted the "C" on forward Owen Mehlenbacher's jersey.

He was the acting captain for that game, because the Lumberjacks have not designated their on-ice leader yet.

It's different than last year, when forward Jack Williams was named captain by the coaches before training camp even began.

This year the coaches have waited to see which players would stand up and play leadership roles throughout camp and the first two weeks of the regular season.

The players will make the decision about the captain with a vote this week.

"We're gonna let the players vote," Hamilton said. "They know better than we do."

Jacks trim two players from the roster

The Lumberjacks have released defensemen Jeremiah Slavin and Evan Orloff, and they are both reporting to new teams in different leagues.

Slavin, a second-year Lumberjack who totaled two assists in 42 games last season, will be playing for a team in the British Columbia Hockey League. Orloff, a rookie who had not registered a point this season, will play for a team in the North American Hockey League.

Check out the Muskegon Lumberjacks Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from October 4, 2022


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